The potty protector is a device used to shield urine from getting outside the toilet when in use and provides a centered target to train boys. There have been a myriad of devices attempting to resolve this issue, but fall short in one or more of the following areas: ease of use, simplified mounting, support for both the back and front of the shield, safe rounded corners, centered and creative targets, and the ability to clean device easily.
With regards to ease of use, the device should be easy to handle, install, remove and clean. Often boys need to urgently use the toilet, so it is important to install the device quickly to avoid an even bigger mess. The following prior art does not provide this handling functionality: U.S. Pat. No. 6,385,785 issued to Linden on May 14, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 5,983,410 issued to Webster on Nov. 16, 1999; U.S. Pat. No. 5,117,512 issued to Bressler on Jun. 2, 1992; U.S. Pat. No. 3,071,778 issued to Renshaw in January 1963 and U.S. Pat. No. 2,583,718 issue to Walls in January 1952.
Prior art strategies are restrictive requiring exact positioning, complicated mounting, and the use of such devices as clamps, clips, hooks, flanges and suctions cups that make installation of a device very cumbersome. The following patents use clamps: U.S. Pat. No. 2,583,718 issued to Walls in January 1952 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,060,859 issued to Anderson in December 1977. Clamps require exact positioning and a lot of handling to install. The following patents use clips or hooks: U.S. Pat. No. 3,931,649 issued to Jankowski in January 1976, U.S. Pat. No. 5,117,512 issued to Bressler on Jun. 2, 1992; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,385,785 issued to Linden on May 14, 2002 discloses a toilet shield mounted with a back clip, which requires the raised toilet seat to be at a particular angle to hook onto. Not all raised toilet seats are at the same vertical angle with respect to the horizontal plane of the curve top rim of a standard toilet, therefore the back clip on shield may not accommodate the various toilet designs. Also the weight of the toilet seat plus the weight of the clip on toilet shield may cause the seat to fall down. The flange technique is used in the following patents: U.S. Pat. No. D394900 issued to Tae Cho Kang on Jun. 2, 1998 and U.S. Pat. No D405,168 issued to Henry on Feb. 2, 1999.
The prior art only offers one support in one of the two areas. Only providing one area of support will cause the device to sag in the other area. The following patent provides only one area of support: U.S. Pat. No. 6,385,785 issued to Linden on May 14, 2002.
The following patents have sharp corners, which could prove harmful to users: U.S. Pat. No. 6,385,785 issued to Linden on May 14, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 5,983,410 issued to Webster on Nov. 16, 1999; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,373,589 issued to Rego et al in December 1994.
Other art either does not provide a target or the position of the target is not in the center of the toilet. The following patents position targets ineffectively: U.S. Pat. No. 6,385,785 issued to Linden on May 14, 2002 positions it target at the back and high on the toilet. U.S. Pat. No. 5,117,512 issued to Bressler on Jun. 2, 1992 positions his targets high on his shield, so when the shield is eventually removed they have been trained to aim at the raised toilet seat.
The apparatus should be easy to clean. Other arts use accordion material, which will be extremely difficult to keep clean and sanitary. The following patents would be difficult to keep clean: U.S. Pat. No. 5,373,589 issued to Rego et al in December 1994 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,276,925 issued to Blaha in January 1994.
It is desirable that the installation or mounting of the device be user friendly. The installation of the device should be quick and secure to ensure urine will not spray outside of the toilet bowl.